Official UK procurement notice
Commissioned Homelessness Services Adults
Authority: Trafford Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionTrafford Council is undertaking a soft market testing exercise in relation to its commissioned homeless supported accommodation for adults.
The Council currently commissions short stay accommodation-based services for people aged 18 and above who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and who require varying levels of housing related support to achieve and sustain independent living.
Existing services accommodate individuals with low to medium support needs and typically provide accommodation for up to two years, with a strong emphasis on progression, independence and planned move on into longer term housing options.
Access to services is managed through the Housing Options Service Trafford acting as a single point of access, ensuring referrals are assessed, prioritised and allocated appropriately across available provision.
CPV: Housing services · Social work and related services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Trafford Council buys Social work and related services (CPV 8530), and who usually turns up
Trafford Council’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Social work and related services (CPV 8530) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in the delivery region.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 49 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The buyer’s share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid33%
2–317%
4–633%
7+17%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate67%
Within ±2%33%
Above estimate0%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 8530Estimate not published
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 338 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid22%
2–336%
4–626%
7+17%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Jul 2026, 12:07 BST
- Last source update
- 10 Jul 2026, 12:23 BST
- Authority reference
DN821954- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-065121- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c868Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
10 Jul 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published104 days ago10 Jul 2026, 12:07 BST
- Market engagement79 days ago3 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION
The Soft Market Test is intended to allow interested organisations with relevant experience to outline their views and provide information with no commitment to themselves or the Council.
The Council is looking to award a contract commencing 1st April 2027. It is further envisaged that the initial contract would be for a period of up to 3 years. During the Soft Market Test, we would like to gauge the level of interest.
Stage 1 - Interested suppliers are required to complete the following company information form and a short questionnaire (at appendix 1). Suppliers who complete and return the questionnaire may be invited to meet with Council representatives to discuss its requirements.
The questionnaire should be returned via The Chest - www.the-chest.org.uk ↗ by 3rd August 2026.
If Suppliers have any questions about this soft market test, such questions should be submitted to the Council using the 'Question and Answer' facility within the opportunity advertised on The Chest. A copy of the question and a copy of the written reply may be circulated to all Suppliers, with anonymity of the Supplier preserved. Suppliers must not raise questions through any other channels, including emails direct to the Council or to STAR Procurement. No questions will be responded to, other than those raised through The Chest as described above
We encourage your participation in this soft market testing exercise but must emphasise that your involvement in this exercise will not carry any commercial advantage in any ensuing procurement process.
No information provided in response to this soft market testing exercise will be used in any evaluation of any subsequent response to a procurement exercise.
Project Timescales
Stage of the project Anticipated deadline
Soft market testing July 2026
Progress to tender October 2026
Closing date for suppliers to have submitted documents January 2027
Result of Procurement Process February 2027
Contract Start Date April 2027
- Tender notice expected20 days ago1 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 161 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Jul 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Jul 2026, 12:07 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Jul 2026, 12:23 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)
Project reference updated DN821954
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender